Depression Among Professional Athletes

It could be hard to imagine that athletes who get gold medals in Olympics could ever be unhappy. In reality, what represents the highlights in their career could also mark the lowest point in their life. The road to success in sports could have devastating lows and exhilarating highs. Many athletes are often singularly focused on specific goals. It is true that not everyone can get medals in Olympic, but it doesn’t really cause happiness. Athletes are often regarded as divine beings and they are often considered as the hopes of the nation.

This causes them to face enormous pressures and they don’t want to let their country down. During the height of their career, they could be treated like the gods of the Mount of Olympus themselves. Athletes are often are treated like celebrities, but eventually, they find that their lives return back to normal. During retirement, depression is relatively common among athletes. It is a well recognized problem and it can be accentuated if their career ends prematurely due to injuries. Not many athletes consider things they should do after sports.

In fact, even the most successful athletes are strangers to normal world. In order to achieve success, these athletes have given up normalcy in live so they can live in a dream. When sports are over, they could find that it is also the end of their lifetime ambition. After winning the gold medal in Olympics, many athletes find that life as they knew it is over. Successful athletes could be subjected to depression due to their inability to make a transition to normal lifestyle. Some even made numerous suicide attempts and checked themselves to various psychiatric facilities.

Depression could also happen more easily if athletes are suspended due to specific factors, such as the use of forbidden substances. Depression isn’t limited to the retirement period, it could also occur during their sporting career. Concussion due to sports accidents is also associated to increased incidences of depression. It is quite common for various contact sports, such as ice hockey and football. Athletes think that life is wonderful after sport, due to various special privileges and accolades. However, even the pressure of being celebrity could be overwhelming enough to encourage depression and drug abuse.

Adding to the problem, athletes are reluctant to seek out help and they prefer to put on a stern face, instead of showing signs of weakness. After all, athletes are trained for years to be tough and they can’t allow themselves to be seen as weak. This could cause some athletes to lose their passion and feel hopeless. This could actually be a one-sided devotion, which causes a downfall among many athletes. For this reason, athletes should recognize the importance of having mental health support and they need to nurture a better balance in their life and career. Athletes should know that experiencing early signs of depression is actually normal and they need to be encouraged to seek help when it happens.